Luke Donald bounced straight back from his Wentworth Club disappointment to claim a share of the first round lead in the Madrid Masters.
Five days after taking seven on the penultimate hole of the BMW PGA Championship and losing by one, Donald fired a seven under par 65 at Real Sociedad Hípica Española Club de Campo to end the day alongside Welsh pair Rhys Davies and Jamie Donaldson.
And as if to hit back as well at all the headlines last week calling him "Plod" - his brother started that - The Ryder Cup star made two superb eagles.
"I can't remember the last time I had two in a round. I don't think I've had one on the PGA Tour all year," said Donald, who almost holed his 275 yard approach to the monster 653 yard ninth and then hit another rescue club 253 yards to seven feet on the 16th.
"I'm never going to overpower a course and some people think I am a short hitter, but I hit it far enough to compete.
"I would love to have that drive (at the 17th on Sunday) again, but I don't see the value in stewing over it.
"If I had planned a week off it might have been tougher, but you learn and you take the positives. You obviously gain confidence from being at the top of the leaderboard most of the week."
Donaldson was a teammate of Donald when Great Britain finished second in the world amateur team championship ten years ago, but he has played 200 European Tour events since then and has yet to taste success.
Davies, on the other hand, is in his rookie season and has already won in Morocco.
On the eve of his 25th birthday the former American college player - he played with Rory McIlroy in the 2007 Walker Cup - had seven birdies like Donaldson.
It has already been a successful week for him - on Monday he took one of the 11 US Open Championship spots on offer in the 36-hole qualifier at Walton Heath.
Davies, who also qualified for the event in his amateur days, won the Trophee Hassan II with a 25 under par total and this looks like being another low-scoring tournament.
Donaldson does not even rule out the possibility of The European Tour's first-ever 59.
"If the weather stays good somebody is going to shoot something stupid - and hopefully it's me," said the 34 year old, whose round got off to an eventful start when his approach to the long tenth went into the lake, but bounced out onto the fringe of the green and led to his first birdie.
One stroke behind the three leaders are 43 year old Paul McGinley and Dutchman Maarten Lafeber, both of whom have had recent knee surgery.
The highlight of Lafeber’s round was a run of four straight birdies form the seventh, while McGinley is not yet dismissing the idea of regaining his Ryder Cup place.
The hero of Europe’s win at The Belfry in 2002 said: "I've got to do something very substantial, but I'm certainly not discounting my chances."
What pleased him most was that he kept a bogey off his card a week after having 17 birdies at Wentworth Club and yet still finishing two over par.
“Today’s round has been my best this year, it's a great round, considering that I didn't strike the ball too well,” added Lafeber.
“I stayed patient, and putted fantastic. I found something at Wentworth and I worked it out with my coaches. It’s really working.”
Donald, at 13th in the Official World Golf Rankings the highest-ranked player in the field, out-scored playing partner Sergio Garcia by seven.
